


Homecoming

by ununoriginal



Category: KAT-TUN (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-02
Updated: 2008-02-02
Packaged: 2017-12-15 01:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/843557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ununoriginal/pseuds/ununoriginal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the country he was born and raised in, yet he feels an undeniable distance from it. Pin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Written for boobandboobs' 'close' challenge.

He was prepped  by his manager before his flight from L.A., but the glut of media and the flashing bulbs greeting him beyond the arrival gate still comes as a shock.  Jin feels an inordinate sense of relief for the staff surrounding him as they part a way for him through the crowd, protecting him from the shouted questions landing like barbs all around him.  All he has to do is remain silent behind his shades.

The sharp, clipped Tokyo-accented Japanese grates in his ears, and the yearning to turn and hop back on the next plane flying west rises within him like a flood, threatening to overwhelm him.  It's conflicting, since he thought he was ready to come back.  The past few days before leaving America, he had been practically buzzing with anticipation, looking forward to seeing everyone again, his family, his friends... Japan.

Spending so much time away in an alien country has made him appreciate his roots more.  The past half year has been an incredible experience, but it also helped him see the beauty and value of his own culture.  Now, though, he wonders if it was merely the distance that made his heart grow fonder.

The air isn't bitingly cold, but after the Californian sunshine, it's still cool enough to make Jin shiver as he steps through the sliding doors of the airport terminal.  The sky is a murky grey - his manager murmurs that it looks like rain, but maybe not, and it seems like the weather feels as ambivalent as him.

On the way from the airport, he keeps expecting to see road signs in English, but kanji and hiragana greet him at every turn.  It's strangely jarring to see so many faces like his own, to be amongst a crowd where he's once again part of the majority. 

Everything is familiar yet foreign -- this is the country he was born and raised in, yet he feels an undeniable distance from it.  He's forgotten about the cold, the claustrophobic buildings, how no one really looks anyone in the eye when they speak, and all the double and triple meanings layered within a single sentence.

His parents and Reio are waiting for him by the door when Jin's manager drops him off, after reminding him that he would come round early tomorrow to pick him up for the press conference announcing his return.  Jin gazes after the SUV as it turns the corner out of sight, lost in thought.  He still has tonight at least -- he isn't sure what he's going to do or say if he meets his bandmates in this current state of mind.

His mother is calling him, so Jin summons up a tired grin as he enters his home, feeling vaguely guilty for not being more excited at seeing them.  Thankfully they don't notice, attributing his lacklustre reaction to jet lag from the flight.  As they sit down to dinner, Reio tells him that Pi can't make it because of his drama-filming but he will be here later and Jin nods distractedly.

Afterwards, his mother puts on the latest program on the DVD recorder and Jin freezes momentarily as a faintly nasal voice enters his ears.  Tomohisa's latest drama, his mother is saying, it's really good and all her friends are enjoying it too.  He can only stare at Iwase Ken, who is Pi and yet isn't, and the panic that clenches at his gut makes him stand up with the sudden urge to get some rest, he needs to be down at the jimusho early tomorrow anyway.

Pi is in his bedroom when Jin returns from his shower, sprawled across Jin's bed staring at the ceiling, like his character in the drama, and Jin's heart suddenly beats faster.  Pi's head turns towards the door, and his mouth starts to open, about to speak, when he's cut off by Jin, rushing to sit down beside Pi, quickly talking about his day, his flight, L.A., semi-aware that it's fast becoming babbling.

Pi merely stares at Jin, his forehead creasing in the slight frown he always gets right before he says...

"Bakanishi!"

Jin jumps and shuts up abruptly, looking back at Pi with wide eyes, the single word reverberating in his mind.

"I know you want to show me how, at long last, your English is better than mine, but... this is Japan!  Speak Japanese, baka."

_Koko Nihon de!..._

There's an exasperated half-smiile on Pi's face and suddenly Jin remembers a time when there was a whiteboard and signatures, when he was performing with his best friend by his side and life couldn't possibly get any better.  Something within him _shifts_ and he closes his eyes.  When he opens them again, everything finally feels... right.

A genuine smile lighting across his face, he draws closer, until his lips are close enough to brush Pi's.  "Hai..." Pi's arms are encircling Jin's waist as he settles against the other's all-too-familiar body.  "Tadaima."


End file.
